A sign by the till: "Leave us a Google review, get 10% off!" A card in the bag: "Review us and enter our monthly prize draw." An email: "Share your experience for a free dessert on your next visit."

You've seen all of these, probably this week. They're everywhere, which makes people assume they must be fine.

They're not. Let's take the two questions separately.

Does it break Google's rules? Yes, clearly.

Google's content policy for Maps and Business Profiles is explicit that businesses must not offer incentives in exchange for reviews. That covers discounts, cash, free products, vouchers, loyalty points, prize draw entries, and anything else of value.

Two details people miss:

It applies to positive AND neutral incentives. "Leave an honest review and get 10% off" is still incentivised. The word "honest" doesn't rescue it.
It applies to rewards given afterwards. Handing someone a free coffee because you saw their review is the same thing as promising one in advance.

What Google actually does about it

Enforcement is inconsistent, which is exactly why so many businesses risk it. But when it lands, it lands hard:

Reviews removed in bulk. The most common outcome. You run a campaign, collect forty reviews, and lose most of them weeks later. All the effort, none of the benefit.
Filtered future reviews. Once your profile shows an unnatural pattern, genuine reviews start getting caught too — a common cause of reviews not showing up.
A warning on your profile. Google has shown public notices on listings with suspicious review activity. Customers see it.
Profile suspension. Rare, but catastrophic — you disappear from Maps entirely.

Is it actually illegal? Increasingly, yes.

This is the part most businesses don't realise has changed.

United States

The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, which came into force in 2024, targets fake and undisclosed-incentive reviews and allows for civil penalties. Undisclosed material connections between a reviewer and a business — including receiving a discount — are exactly the sort of thing it addresses. The FTC has brought enforcement actions against businesses over review manipulation.

United Kingdom

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the CMA gained direct enforcement powers over fake and incentivised reviews, with penalties reaching a significant percentage of global turnover. Publishing reviews without disclosing that they were incentivised is squarely in scope.

European Union

The Omnibus Directive requires traders to disclose whether and how they ensure reviews come from genuine purchasers, and bans submitting or commissioning fake reviews. Member states set their own penalties, and several are substantial.

India, Australia and elsewhere

India's BIS framework on online consumer reviews addresses paid and incentivised reviews. Australia's ACCC has repeatedly taken action on misleading review practices under consumer law. The global direction of travel is unmistakably one way.

The era where incentivised reviews were a grey area is over. Regulators in most major markets now have specific rules and specific penalties.

This is general information rather than legal advice — if you've been running incentive campaigns at scale, it's worth an hour with a solicitor in your jurisdiction.

The near-misses people ask about

"What if I offer it to everyone, not just happy customers?"

Still incentivised. It also isn't review gating, which is a separate violation — so doing both at once is two problems, not one.

"What about a staff bonus for review count?"

This is legal and doesn't breach Google's policy, because the incentive goes to your team rather than the customer. But be careful: it creates pressure to ask badly, or to collect reviews on the shop tablet, which triggers spam filtering. Reward the asking, not the star rating.

"Can I run a prize draw for anyone who reviews us?"

No. Entry into a draw is a thing of value.

"Can I thank someone with a free coffee afterwards?"

If they know it's because they reviewed you, it's an incentive. If it's a spontaneous gesture unconnected to the review, it isn't — but the distinction is thin and easy to get wrong.

"What about reviews on my own website?"

Google's policy doesn't govern your own site, but consumer law does. Incentivised testimonials on your website must disclose the incentive clearly.

What works instead (and works better)

Here's the thing nobody selling review shortcuts wants to tell you: asking properly outperforms incentivising, and it doesn't evaporate six weeks later.

Ask at the peak moment. Right after someone says "that was great" — not three days later by email. Timing beats bribery.
Ask personally. "It really helps us if you leave a quick Google review" from the person who served them converts far better than any sign.
Make it one tap. A short review link by SMS while they're still in the car park. Here's how to create one.
Ask everyone, consistently. Every customer, every week, forever. Consistency beats campaigns.
Reply to every review you get. Reviewers who get a warm reply review you again after their next visit — the cheapest growth loop there is.

The full set of methods, with the exact wording, is in how to ask customers for Google reviews.

If you've already been doing it

Don't panic, and don't try to delete anything.

Stop the offer today. Take the sign down, pull the email.
Don't ask reviewers to remove their reviews — that creates a second, worse problem.
Start a genuine review habit immediately, so honest reviews outnumber the incentivised ones over time.
Expect some historic reviews to disappear. Let them go.
If any incentivised testimonials appear on your own website, add a clear disclosure or remove them.

Reploi helps on the other half of the equation — replying to every review quickly and personally, which is the compliant way to keep reviewers coming back. Start free — 5 replies/month →

Is It Legal to Offer Discounts for Google Reviews? (2026)